News broke out that Charlie Sheen filed for divorce on November 1, 2010. At the time Charlie Sheen filed for divorce the couple had already performed all the work necessary six months prior to filing the petition as the parties contractually dissolved their assets in a marital settlement agreement. This normally does not happen; typically a party files the petition then enters into a marital settlement agreement. Here, the parties entered into a marital settlement agreement around May 26, 2010 and made determinations as to all issues including child custody, child support, spousal support and the dissolution of assets. The marital settlement agreement was not a prenuptial agreement as the couple prepared the marital settlement agreement in anticipation of divorce. The marital settlement agreement made it very clear that the parties were not formally filing for divorce because they wanted to keep the divorce private; the parties were not ready for the divorce to go public. The marital settlement agreement provided that the family law court cannot overrule any issues within the marital settlement.

The marital settlement agreement also stated that when one party was ready he/she may go in ex parte and obtain a judgment and the marital settlement agreement would become final. The marital settlement agreement was a 45 page document drafted by both attorneys and all terms were addressed. This normally does not happen. Parties in a typical divorce proceeding first file for divorce with the family law court, then engage in discovery to reveal the financial assets and properties of the individuals, then enter into a marital settlement agreement and have the court render the marital settlement agreement as the judgment thereby finalizing the divorce. Charlie and Brooke have been waiting for the right time for their divorce to go public and considering the facts surrounding the Plaza hotel incident where Charlie entertained a paid escort this was probably the right time. Immediately after the incident the divorce went public. Ms. Mueller made a statement when Charlie Sheen filed for divorce on November 1, 2010 that she had no clue he was seeking a divorce and was very hurt that she found out in a text. This cannot be true because this has been a divorce in process for almost a year as the couple were legally separated around December 2009.

Author: Maryam Atighechi

The Atighechi Law Group is an exclusive Los Angeles Divorce & Family Law Firm – located in the heart of Beverly Hills that concentrates exclusively on Family Law Matters. - See more at: http://www.familylaw-firm.com/#sthash.udl9FO3f.dpuf